Quote of the Day/Week/Month/Year

[August1991]

Stephen Harper, PM of Canada, on the US federal government budget:

“I feel not bad about the fiscal cliff issue,” he said. “I do think lawmakers there will arrive at, at least some partial compromises to avert catastrophe on Jan. 1 or in the month of January.

“I think their bigger challenge is going to be after January. The U.S. fiscal situation, when you look at it, is a runaway train. And they’re running deficits of $1 trillion-plus, and that cannot continue. And so over the medium term, they’re going to have to have a plan to deal with that."

Global News

[August1991]

Paul Martin, last federal Liberal PM, 74:

Former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin is calling Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence “an inspiration” after meeting with her on Saturday.

Martin, the highest-ranking dignitary to visit with the hunger-striking First Nations Chief at her tent in Ottawa, told CTV’s Question Period in an exclusive interview that he had a “very good” discussion with Spence.

“I just told her that she really was a, she’d become really an inspiration for all Canadians and that we were obviously concerned about her health and that she’s got to talk care of herself,” Martin said.

CTV Edited January 7, 2013 by August1991

[August1991]

Theresa Spence, 49, Chief of the Attawapiskat First Nation:

“All we want justice, equality and fairness that we are entitled [to],” Ms. Spence said Friday morning in a rare address to the media. “We never changed your lives, why should you guys change our lives. We had our ways.”

...

“Most of the funding that we have, it goes back to you, to taxpayers,” Ms. Spence said.

G&M

[August1991]

Laurent Fabius, 66, French Foreign Minister:

«Nous souhaitons que les Britanniques puissent apporter des éléments positifs à l'Europe», a-t-il dit. Mais «l'Europe, admettons que ce soit un club de football, on adhère à ce club, mais une fois qu'on est dedans, on ne peut pas dire qu'on joue au rugby». «Ça risque d'être dangereux pour la Grande-Bretagne elle-même, parce que la Grande-Bretagne hors de l'Europe (cela va être) difficile».

Le Figaro Edited January 23, 2013 by August1991

[jbg]

Laurent Fabius, 66, French Foreign Minister:Le Figaro

What does that mean in Canadian?

[Guest]

Gun Appreciation Day founder Larry Ward

"I believe Gun Appreciation Day honors the legacy of Dr. King. I think Martin Luther King, Jr. would agree with me if he were alive today that if African Americans had been given the right to keep and bear arms from day one of the country's founding, perhaps slavery might not have been a chapter in our history."

[August1991]

Le Parti Québécois, 44, current governing instance of Québec:

« Il est proposé que le Parti québécois défende le gel des droits de scolarité ou toute autre position permettant de diminuer l’endettement étudiant et de maintenir l’accessibilité aux études supérieures. »

Le Devoir

Edited February 11, 2013 by August1991

[August1991]

Pauline Marois, 63, Prime Minister of Québec:

«Pour moi indexation égale gel, a-t-elle dit. Parce que indexation veut dire que, le coût de la vie augmentant d'une année à l'autre, si on gèle dans le sens de ne pas indexer, à ce moment-là on réduit les frais de scolarité.»

Le Devoir

[August1991]

Anthanasios Orphanides, 51, former Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus:

"In order for the EU area to stay together they needed to form a banking union which meant, they needed to have a common credible deposit insurance guarantee for everybody in the EU area. Indeed by making a mockery of that right now, the governments who pushed for this measure are sending a message that they want no part of a banking union."

Business Insider

Edited March 20, 2013 by August1991

[Pliny]

"What Difference Did I Make" A suggestion from Rush Limbaugh for the title of Hillary Clinton's book on her memoirs of being Secretary of State.

[August1991]

Jean-François Lisée, 55, ministre responsable de la Metropole:

«Je pense que la première ministre et moi avions une responsabilité envers tous les Montréalais et les Québécois au sens large, c'est la plus grande ville [du Québec]. Nous avions la conviction, comme énormément de Montréalais, que M. Tremblay n'avait plus la crédibilité politique pour diriger la ville», a-t-il relaté.

Le Devoir

[August1991]

Margaret Trudeau, 63:

“But someone is bullying my Justin and that makes me mad,” she said to rousing applause from the packed audience at the Capitol Centre.
.....

“We have to get rid of bullying in politics,” Trudeau said, “ and focus on what we can do for each other.”

.....

“If Stephen Harper took off his shirt in public, I’m not sure he’d raise any money for charity,” Trudeau quipped.

North Bay Nipissing

Edited May 5, 2013 by August1991

[August1991]

Stephen Harper, PM of Canada:

Harper issued his own statement on Sunday, confirming Wright's decision.

“It is with great regret that I have accepted the resignation of Nigel Wright as my chief of staff. I accept that Nigel believed he was acting in the public interest, but I understand the decision he has taken to resign.

"I want to thank Nigel for his tremendous contribution to our government over the past two and a half years," the prime minister said.

CBC

Nigel Wright, 50, retired Chief of Staff:

"My actions were intended solely to secure the repayment of funds, which I considered to be in the public interest, and I accept sole responsibility," Wright said in a statement.

"I did not advise the Prime Minister of the means by which Sen. Duffy's expenses were repaid, either before or after the fact."

CBC

Edited May 21, 2013 by August1991

[August1991]

Michael Fortier, 51, former Conservative senator:

Some Conservatives are lamenting Wright's departure and blaming the Senate for the loss of a valuable adviser to Harper.

"He brought adult supervision to that job which was frankly much needed, and to see him leave the PMO in this fashion is regrettable," former Conservative senator Michael Fortier told CBC News. "The Senate, however, continues to trip over its own stick. These are own goals that they keep scoring on themselves."

Fortier said the last few weeks on Parliament Hill have been "a gong show."

"The prime minister, [when] he came into Ottawa when we formed government in 2006, it was largely on the heels of the ethics issues that surrounded the Liberal Party and the Liberal brand up until 2006," said Fortier. "For the prime minister to be stuck in a scandal around ethics is I'm sure something he's not quite pleased about, and he's got to address this very quickly and move on."

CBC

[August1991]

Sen. David Tkachuk, 68, chair of the Senate's Internal Economy Committee:

Q: … no, more specifically, regardless of whether there was an agreement, was it ever suggested to you that you should treat him differently? Did Nigel ever suggest that you should go easy on Mike Duffy?

A: No. I mean, you’ve got to remember I would have been having a number of discussions with Nigel, I had a few of them. He didn’t tell me to do anything, really. We discussed Mike and the situation that he was in. I mean, the Prime Minister’s Office was very concerned about this. They don’t like this scandal going on. It was hurting us politically. And I didn’t like it going on, but he never said, he never told me to whitewash anything or to let him off the hook or anything like that.

Macleans

[August1991]

Robert Fife, CTV journalist:

“It unravelled because Duffy couldn’t keep quiet. He sent emails all over the city and he told too many people about it and some of them told me,” Mr. Fife told CTV’s Lisa LaFlamme in a talk-back when the story broke that night.

Mr. Fife declined to be interviewed for this story because he said he’s not the story.

“I’m not the story. We should all keep our eyes on the unfolding drama. I don’t want this to be about personality journalism. All our colleagues on the Hill are digging into the story in the time-honoured tradition of good old-fashioned investigative reporting,” said Mr. Fife in an email to The Hill Times in which he copied his boss CTV News President Wendy Freeman.

Hill Times

[August1991]

James Snowden, 29, former NSA Analyst:

“The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything,” he said. “With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. If I wanted to see your emails or your wife’s phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards. I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of things … I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.”

...

"I had an authority to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant to a federal judge or even the President, if I had a personal email.

"You don’t have to have done anything wrong, you simply have to have eventually fall under suspicion ... and then they can use this system to go back in time and ... derive suspicion from an innocent life”

The Independent Edited June 10, 2013 by August1991

[August1991]

Vladimir Putin, 59, divorced Russian President discusses whether Stalin would have used a nuclear weapon:

"In 1941-42, when it was a question of life or death for the (Soviet) state, maybe he would have used it if he had it. But in 1945, when the enemy had essentially surrendered and had no chance, I very much doubt it," Putin said.

"But the Americans used it against Japan, which was losing -against a non-nuclear state, by the way."

But he said: "It's no coincidence that Russia and the United States have united at critical periods in modern history - in World War One and World War Two. We were opposing one another, but when the chips were down we came together.

"There is something that unites us, some fundamental interests that unite us."

Reuters

[August1991]

Pope Francis, 76, discusses papal internal politics:

Y, sí… es difícil. En la curia hay gente santa, de verdad, hay gente santa. Pero también hay una corriente de corrupción, también la hay, es verdad… Se habla del “lobby gay”, y es verdad, está ahí… hay que ver qué podemos hacer…

Reflexión y Liberación

[Traveller]

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors."
Attributed to Plato

[August1991]

Macky Sall, 51, President of Senegal speaks to the American media:

"Le Sénégal est un pays tolérant qui ne fait pas de discrimination en termes de traitement sur les droits (...). Mais on n'est pas prêts à dépénaliser l'homosexualité. C'est l'option du Sénégal pour le moment. Cela ne veut pas dire que nous sommes homophobes. Mais il faut que la société absorbe, prenne le temps de traiter ces questions sans qu'il y ait pression."

Mais le président sénégalais ne s'est pas contenté de cette riposte prudente."C'est comme la peine de mort, a-t-il taclé, une question que chaque pays traite [à sa façon]. Nous l'avons abolie depuis longtemps. Dans d'autres pays, elle s'impose parce que la situation l'exige. Nous respectons le choix de chaque Etat."

Le Monde

Edited June 27, 2013 by August1991

[Traveller]

Sir John A. MacDonald, speaking to the people of Canada:

"If I had influence over the minds of the people of Canada, any power over their intellect, I would leave them this legacy: ‘Whatever you do, adhere to the Union. We are a great country, and shall become one of the greatest in the universe if we preserve it; we shall sink into insignificance and adversity if we suffer it to be broken."

[Pliny]

"The chief and, in a sense, the only condition one needs in order to reach a centralized power in a democratic society is to love equality or to make men believe you do. Thus, the art of Despotism, which was formerly so complicated, is now quite simple: it is reduced, as it were, to a single principle."

- Alexis de Tocqueville

[August1991]

"The chief and, in a sense, the only condition one needs in order to reach a centralized power in a democratic society is to love equality or to make men believe you do. Thus, the art of Despotism, which was formerly so complicated, is now quite simple: it is reduced, as it were, to a single principle."

- Alexis de Tocqueville

We are one in all and all in one.

There are no men but only the great we,

One, indivisible and forever.

Equality 7-2521

[Pliny]

Rarely do you comment on another quote. I take it as a compliment.